Curiosity:
I remember first learning about blogs several years ago when a political commentator announced to those of us that subscribed to her email that she would now be writing a blog instead. I didn't bother to visit her "blog thing".
Months passed and then one day I decided to sit in on an Inman News conference call about real estate blogs. One of the guests, Ardell, said the magic words: she got all of her new leads from her blog.
Commitment:
At this point I didn't know a widget from an RSS Feed and I thought that embedding had something to do with reporters in Iraq.
I realized that I needed to do a lot of reading to try and understand this new language. I found the Real Estate Tomato, RSS Pieces, Copyblogger, ActiveRain, Searching Seattle, Long Beach Real Estate, Miamism, St. Paul Real Estate Blog, 3 Oceans, Mybloglog, Real Estate Voices, Trulia Voices, Meebo, and, of course, istock.
Fear:
I called RSS Pieces and they designed my blog.
There is was, a frame with no picture; a book cover with no content; a blog with no posts. The fear set in. What do I write first? Aren't readers going to wonder why I have a blog with only one post? Who is my target audience? What if I get no hits at all?
I looked at all of the successful real estate blogs again. They were like an encyclopedia of information. I had none.
RSS Pieces told me I needed to write at least 3 posts a week. I just sold 3 properties in one week. How was I going to find the time to write so many posts let alone read and make posts and comments on ActiveRain?
Lonliness:
Everyone was laughing at me: the tech support people who created my blog had that tone in their voices that just made me want to hide. Okay, so I don't know how to add a picture to a post. But, I'll bet you don't know how to sell real estate.
And what is all this chatter on ActiveRain about carnivals and what does TLW ROAR! mean? I felt like I did the first day in a new high school in a strange city. Who was I going to sit with at lunch? Is everyone laughing at me?
Addiction:
So, I started to write. First I wrote some posts for my own blog and then a few posts on ActiveRain. I started out slowly but the more I wrote and the more comments I made the better I felt. And, I got a post featured...wow, it was amazing! I guess my BA in English from Berkeley wasn't useless after all. (Dad)
Pretty soon stacks of paper began to pile up next to my desk: One was for articles about blogs, one was for ideas for future posts, one was for posts I just had to write this week, one was magazines and newspapers I had to read for more ideas.
Before I knew it, I was writing every day. Once in a while I had to attend a closing or a meeting and darn all those newspapers and magazines piling up. But wait, there may be ideas for posts in them....read, I must read them all, I must read them all now.
Insanity:
Before I knew it, I was waking up in the middle of the night, would start thinking of topics for posts and never get back to sleep.
I had a scratch pad in my car to write down ideas when they came to me.
Everything seemed to lead to a new topic for a post.
My brain was on overload.
Too many ideas , too much to learn, too much to read, too much to write.
Heeeeellllllllpppppppp Meeeeeeeee!
Desire and Commitment
The fear and frenzy gave way to a more focused approach to learning. I realized I wanted to be successful at generating leads through blogging and I was committed to spending the hours and days and months and years it would take to do so.
Excitement:
The words began to find their way to the computer screen. I wrote with a passion I hadn't felt in a long time. I wrote about topics about which I honestly cared and about which I actually had some expertise. I wrote about my 16+ years of real estate experiences, the community I love, and even tried to make a contribution to the ActiveRain community by writing comments. This was fun!
Joy:
Good things started to happen. The number of hits on my blog was steadily increasing. My posts were getting more comments. A few more of my posts got featured on ActiveRain. And, I won a contest. Wow, was I happy...I didn't even know who to tell first, my mom, my husband, my kids, my clients and friends!
Happiness:
I think I can actually do this blogging business with the support of all those around me. I no longer wonder if but know, while I still have a lot to learn, that I am going to make it happen and I am going to enjoy it no matter what because I have found something that challenges my creativity and my writing skills while pushing me to constantly be learning and stepping outside my comfort zone.
Fulfillment:
Last week I closed three sales with three wonderful couples I had originally met online. Knowing that they are settled in homes and communities that they love and that I made a difference in their lives is what all of this is truly all about.
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